
Glass. 
Book 



P • 5> r\ n 



■*j 



* 

* 



BIOGRAPHY c5e5:/£, 



OF THE 



ILLUSTRIOUS CITIZEN, 



9 



THE HERO, THE STATESMAN, THE PHILANTHROPIST, 

THE EARLY AND CONSTANT FRIEND OF AMERICA, 

AND THE CHAMPION OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS 

OF MANKIND. 



BY d CITIZEN OF WASHINGTON, D. C, 



" Son of valor! Heir of glory'. 
" Noble by the patriot's line ; 
W Gallant warrior ! Chieftain hoary 
■" Immortality is thine," 



-SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED. 



Copy Right Secured* 

rn mm — —— — — — — 

WILMINGTON: 

SPRINTED BY R. PORTER, NO. 97, MARKET-STREET 

1824, 

[Price 37 5 Cents,] 



*\:tt» 



TO Tire HEAIVKft. 

The following Biography is extracted from varion 
accredited sources, and may be considered correcl 
Believing that such a Sketch may be interesting to 
great portion of our American Citizens, it is resped 
fully submitted to them without apology, or furthc 
comment. 

THE COMPILER. 

Washington, August, 1824. 



NOTE. 

IN this SECOND EDITION an account of Genert 
Lafayette's arrival is given — his reception at New-Fork, wit 
the Addresses made there, and the enthusiasm evinced througl 
out the Union — his progress on to Boston — return to and throug 
New-York and New-Jersey to Philadelphia, Sfc. doxvn to th\ 
date. 

Philadelphia, September, 1824. 



L2; 



A 

OF 



7* 

VEN a brief Biography of the illustrious Citizen, 
who is jiow our Nation's Guest, must be desirable to every 
American. 

In the bloom of youth he embarked his fortune, and haz- 
arded his life, in the great cause of the rights of mankind. 
His attachment, unremitted zeal, distinguished generalship 
and bravery, as an officer, till the great object of our revolu- 
tionary struggle was attained ; bis republican principles, the 
conspicuous part he took for the same cause in the great 
drama of revolutionary France, his consistency of republi- 
can character and moderation, in aiming at a middle course 
between the gloomy despotism of tyrants, and the madness, 
the blood-thirsty fury of Jacobinical mobs, justly entitle him 
to the immortal honor of being considered the Washington 
of Europe. Happy would it be, could the same parallel be 
drawn as to the result of the struggles in the native coun- 
tries of the heroes of Mount Vernon and Legrange. 

The Marquis de Lafayette, was born at Auvergne, a pro- 
vince of France, on the 6th of September, 1757, making him 
sixty-seven years of age on the 6th of September, 1824 ; And 
we may envy that city of the United States whose honor it 
shall be to have his presence on the celebration of his birth- 
day. And how fortunate, how honorable, would it be to our 
happy country, should this hero and patriot resolve to spend 
his remaining years among these ten millions of his friends. 



• • 4 

"Whose present blessings he was instrumental, under Heaven, 
in obtaining. Lafayette was a native of a province ii 
France, whose inhabitants were characterised for bold enter- 
prise. The ancestors of the Marquis, for generations back, 
were particularly distinguished for fearless, undaunted bra 
very, and contempt of danger, which traits were sustained bj 
the Marquis himself, when, at nineteen years of age, he re- 
linquished all the allurements of a princely fortune, in e 
beautiful country, with the blandishments of the splendic 
Court of Versailles, and embarked in his own ship^ to offei 
his services in fighting the battles of a country, (as said bj 
the Europeans,) at the "ends of the earth." He arrivei 
here in 1777, at the most gloomy period of the Revolutionary 
war; — a time when the conquering army of Burgoyne was 
about making bold advances into the heart of our country 
when General Howe, with an army far superior, in numbei 
and discipline, to that of Washington, held New- York, was 
overrunning New-Jersey, and about seizing on Philadelphia, 
Which was actually taken this year ; and when, to complete 
the climax, defections were constantly taking place in the 
American army. His arrival threw a halo of brightening 
hope over the late darkened political horizon. He landed ai 
Charleston, South Carolina, in January, and immediate!} 
joined the army as a volunteer, where he served till the 3ls1 
of July, the same year, when he was commissioned by Con- 
gress a Major General. 

In September following he was in the well known actiou 
on the Brandywine, near the boundary line between Pennsyl- 
vania and Delaware, in opposing General Howe in his marcb 
from Elkton, (Maryland,) to Philadelphia. In this severe 
engagement, General Lafayette was in the hottest part of the 
battle, and, when wounded, refused being carried from the 
field. 

On the 25th of November following, he, with quite an in- 
ferior force, attacked and drove a party of Hessians. 

Continuing in the army, honored and universally respect- 
ed, as one of America's most zealous, unshaken friends, tilt 
the year 1779, he returned to France, on a short visit, where 



he used every exertion with the French Government, to pro- 
mote the American cause. In an extract of a letter from 
Dr. Franklin to General Washington, March 5th, 1780, he 
thus writes : " I received but lately the letter your Excel- 
lency did me the honor of writing to me, in recommendation 
of the Marquis de Lafayette. His modesty detained it long 
in his own hands. We became acquainted, however, from 
the time of his arrival in Paris ; and his zeal for the honor 
Of our country, his activity in our affairs here, and his firm 
attachment to our cause and to you, impressed me with the 
same regard and esteem for him that your Excellency's letter 
would have done, had it immediately been delivered to me." 

While at Paris, a sword, ornamented with emblematical 
devices, was presented to him by Dr. Franklin, the Ameri- 
can Minister, in the name of Congress, as a distinguished 
mark of their high approbation of his worth and gallantry. 
His influence having co-operated with the American Minis- 
ter in obtaining the friendship of Louis Sixteenth, and of the 
French nation generally, the Marquis returned to America 
the next year, 1780, and landed at Boston, with a large re- 
inforcement. Wherever he went, his fame, liberal benevo- 
lence, and conciliatory manners, commanded respect and 
friendship. Many acts of generosity during his stay at the 
last mentioned city have lately been prominently noted in the 
Boston and other papers. 

In 1781 he had orders to act in an independent distinct 
command, in opposing the infamous Arnold, and driving him 
from his predatory war in Virginia. But for want of the 

fleet, the expedition 
apposed and measu- 
rably defeated General Phillips and his marauding party, 
and finally gave a formidable check to the ablest of the Brit- 
ish Generals, Lord Cornwallis, who sneeringly called the 
Marquis " a boy, whom he would not let escape him." But 
the boy was not only too active, but too old for his Lordship, 
who soon after, with his whole captive army, realized the 
folly of his threat. 

The perseverance of the Marquis, through so many dis- 



— ' i — j "~* -" ' «©—■«•• ■—»' 

simultaneous co operation of t|je French fl< 
failed, as it respected An%d, jj&flgh ^Jgl 



couraging vicissitudes, and his noble generosity in providing 
for his army from his own funds, (having at one time advan- 
ced ten thousand dollars to clothe them,) show him in a great 
and elevated point of view that probably has no parallel. 
Had he arrived on our shores as a poor adventurer, a dis- 
banded or cashiered officer in his own country, a ready hire- 
ling in any cause where pay and plunder might have been 
expected, as is the case with adventurers generally — had he 
merely on the spur of enthusiasm, hastily engaged in the 
American cause as a Quixotic crusader, for some momentary 
feat of chivalry — he would have ranked with the ordinary 
class of adventurers found in all ages and countries, in time 
of war. As such, he would have shrunk from the appalling 
scenes of a starving, naked, retreating army ; the delays 
and vexations attending the tardiness of our different States 
in supplying their quota of men and money ; with the conse- 
quent mutinies and desertions so frequent during the Ameri- 
can Revolutionary war. 

But Lafayette was governed by principles of Democracy 
too exalted to be depressed and flittered away even by disas- 
tcrous campaigns, unremitted vigilance, and hard service, 
from year to year, in watching and opposing a well disciplin- 
ed, powerful enemy — with a love of liberty too glowing to be 
extinguished, or the least diminished by exposure in march- 
ing and counter-marching, through the wild forests, the 
bleaching storms of a rigorous American climate. With the 
army which he clothed, the Marquis, by a masterly address 
and superior generalship, hemmed in Cornwallis at York- 
town, where it seems he could not escape from the " boy ;" 
but, soon alter, in ^$&vSfi$*.7 %f, delivered his sword, and 
marched out his army as prisoners of war^ to Washington, 
Lafayette, and our generous allies. The bloody drama 
which was opened seven years before at Lexington, Massa- 
chusetts, was now closed at Yorktown, Virginia. Covered 
with glory, and hailed in all places by a grateful people as 
an illustrious fellow-citizen, Lafayette visitpd a number of 
the cities, and then the second time returned to France, and 
was there appointed adjutant general to Count D'Estaing, 



who was about setting sail for America, at the head of the 
land and naval forces, consisting of Spanish and French, 
when peace was declared. 

He, however, visited the United States a third time, to 
participate in the triumph of American Independence. "May 
the immense temple which we have just raised to Liberty," 
said he, " ever offer a lesson to oppressors, an example to 
the oppressed, and an asylum to the rights of mankind."' 
His bust was presented by the state of Virginia, to the city of 
Paris ; and the warmest sentiments of gratitude and respect 
were felt for him throughout the Union. Having delivered 
his farewell address to Congress, in 1784, he bid adieu once 
more to his adopted country. 

From tliis time till the French Revolution, the active and 
benevolent mind of Lafayette, was engaged in aiding the 
cause of humanity, by making, at his own expense, an expe- 
riment for the emancipation of the blacks, and in espousing 
the interests of the French protestants. At the convocation 
of the National Assembly, 1787, he obtained a resolution fa- 
vorable to their civil rights. Being one of the Notables, he 
endeavored to bring about a reform requiring the suppression 
of kttres de catchet and state prisons. He approved of the 
demolition of the Bastile ; was the first to propose, on the 
11th of July, " A Declaration of Rights," and demanded the 
responsibility of the King's ministry. Entire disinterested- 
ness marked all the actions of Lafayette ; while protecting 
the royal family, and many other persons, from the fury of 
the populace, he was still the zealous advocate of religious, 
political, and civil liberty, and declared " that insurrection 
against despotism was the most sacred of duties." The inde- 
pendent course he pursued in the early part of the Revolution, 
rendered him alternately suspected of favoring the cause of 
despotism and of republicanism. His popularity, however 
continued to increase, and, in 1790, he was created General 
in Chief of the National Guards of France, a greater body 
of troops, perhaps, than has ever been commanded since the 
days of Xerxes ; but he caused a decree to be made, that no 
person should command more than one department of the Na- 



8 

tional Guards at a time, and took in their name at i\\^ federa- 
tion the civic oath on the altar of his country. In the spring 
1791, he experienced a change of popular favor; his troops 
became disaffected in consequence of the violence of party 
spirit, assailed by the royalists on one side, unjustly suspect- 
ed by the National Assembly, accused of treachery by Marat 
and his party, and even his life attempted by a ruffian who 
was suffered to go unpunished. 

No sooner was the constitution organized than he resign- 
ed his command and retired to one of his family estates. On 
his resignation, the city of Paris presented to him a gold 
medal, and a bust of Washington. He was, also, offered a 
full compensation for the losses he sustained by the revolu- 
tion, which, with his characteristic disinterestedness, he re* 
fused. When war against Austria was resolved upon, La- 
fayette was chosen Major General, but soon after obtained 
the rank of Lieutenant General, and, finally, that of Mar- 
shal of France. Having been invested with the command of 
the armies of the Meuse and the Moselle, he left his head 
quarters soon after the 20th of June, 1792, on purpose to 
complain of the indignities to which the King had been expos- 
ed in the course of that day ; but a decree of accusation was 
at length voted against him. He was forsaken by the troops, 
who considered that disobedience to his orders had now be- 
come a duty, and that to recognize him any longer was to 
violate the laws. Notwithstanding the prevalence of these 
sentiments, a generous feeling seemed still to actuate the 
hearts of an army who had resolved to abandon its General, 
and both time and opportunity were afforded him to provide 
for his safety. Accordingly, in the course of that night, he 
assembled his friends, and consulted every one who, by per- 
sonal attachment to him, might be disposed to participate in 
his danger. It was allowed on all sides, that it had now be- 
come impossible to support the vigorous measures which 
they had determined to pursue, as they were abandoned by 
the whole nation, and even by their own troops. Such was 
their situation, that an immediate flight was absolutely ne- 
cessary to those who had but so lately hoped to decide the 



fate of tiie empire. Lafayette reluctantly consented to a 
measure now reu lered inevitable, but lie was not ignorant of 
the dangers which accompanied it ; lie hoped, however, to 
appear rather unfortunate than culpable in the eyes of man- 
kind. He accordingly resolved to set out before the ap- 
proaching dawn should exhibit once more the discontent of 
an army formerly so much attached to him, and which still 
respecting his misfortunes, determined not to intercept his 
flight. 

He therefore mounted his horse, with seventeen compa- 
nions, among whom were Latour Maubourg, the friend of his 
youth; Alexander Lamath, formerly the most bitter of his 
adversaries, but now determined to participate in his misfor- 
tunes; Bureau de Pusey, three times president of the consti- 
tuting assembly ; several of his aids-de-camp ; and, in short, 
all those who dreaded the wrath of the triumphing party. 
None of them attempted to seduce a single battalion to de- 
sert, and, by such base and inglorious means, ensure the fa- 
vor of the enemy : on the contrary, it was their sole wish to 
retire to some distant country, and wait for better days, and 
a more auspicious fortune. Having abandoned the French 
territory, they travelled several leagues without encounter- 
ing any difficulty. They were dressed in their respective uni- 
forms ; and, in the course of their journey, frankly announc- 
ed themselves as officers, who, having left the army, were 
now repairing to Switzerland. At length they were met by 
an Austrian patrole, and being interrogated, they delivered 
in an account of their names and rank, adding, at the same 
time, the reasons which had induced them to fly from their 
own country. On this they were arrested, and declared pri- 
soners to the king of Prussia. 

Lafayette, when he first determined to abandon his troops, 
was well aware that he might be exposed to prejudice and en- 
mity, scarcely less implacable than that from winch he was 
obliged to shelter himself: yet both he and his friends still 
hoped that this monarch would, in their persons, respect the 
rules of war, and the rights of misfortune. But the leaders, 
now, on their march to restore the ancient monarchy of 

B 



10 

France, equally neglecting the voice of policy and of justice, 
Avere rendered presumptuous by the hope of success, and 
steeled to pity on hearing of those divisions which presented 
them with the means of gratifying the reveries of ambition 
and revenge. Detesting every thing connected with the re- 
volution, Frederick William was not displeased to have one 
of its first promoters in his power. Lafayette was, therefore, 
with three other constituents, (Latour Maubourg, Alexan- 
der Lamath, and Bureau de Pusey,) conducted to Luxem- 
burg, from whence he was permitted to address a letter to 
the Duke of Saxe Teschen, governor general of the low 
countries. That prince not only signified his refusal in the 
most peremptory manner, but added, with a degree of bitter- 
ness wholly unsuitable to the occasion, " that they should be 
reserved for the scaffold." Immediately after this, a corres- 
pondence took place between the courts of Berlin and Vienna, 
relative to those prisoners ; and as it was at length determin- 
ed that the monarch who commanded the combined army, 
should be entrusted with the custody of Lafayette and his 
companions, they were accordingly conducted under an es- 
cort, and imprisoned at Wesel, where they were confined se- 
parately, and constantly superintended by non-commissioned 
officers, who received strict orders never to permit them to 
remain, for a single moment, out of sight, nor to answer any 
questions that were put by them. 

Lafayette, overwhelmed with chagrin and mortification, 
fell sick, and became so dangerously ill, that his life was des- 
paired of. While in this condition, Maubourg was refused 
permission to visit his friend, now supposed to be on his 
death bed. 

But a salutary crisis having occurred, and the king of 
Prussia thinking that he might be able to profit by his con- 
valescence, caused it to be intimated that his situation would 
be ameliorated, provided he would draw up his plans against 
France. But Lafayette exhibited, by means of an energetic 
answer, his scorn of such a proposition. On this, the rigors 
of his confinement were increased, and he and his compa- 
nions soon after thrown into a wagon, and conveyed to Mag- 



11 

deburg, care being taken that they should learn nothing res- 
pecting their families, concerning whose fate they experienc- 
ed the most lively emotions, in consequence of the proscrip- 
tions that prevailed in France. By removing them in this 
manner, it seems to have been the intention of their persecu- 
tors to aggravate their miseries, and excite the public indig- 
nation ; but if such were their motives, they were greatly 
disappointed, as they every where experienced that interest 
and compassion, produced alike by the injustice of their de- 
tention, and the constancy of their courage. They remain- 
ed, during a whole year at Magdeburg, in a dark, humid 
vault, surrounded by high palisades, shut up by means of 
four successive doors, fortified by iron bars, and fastened by 
padlocks. This fate, however, appeared to be now milder, 
as they were permitted to see each other, and allowed to 
walk an hour, each day, on one of the bastions. 

At length the king of Prussia, all of a sudden, ordered 
Lafayette to be removed to Neiss. Maubourg in vain solicit- 
ed to be shut up along with him ; but this favor was denied, 
and he was conducted to Glatz, whither Bureau de Pusey 
was also carried soon after. Alexander Lamath, who was 
dangerously ill, could not be transported along with his 
companions. His mother, after many solicitations, prevail- 
ed on the king to permit him to remain within his own domin- 
ions ; and, soon after the peace had been concluded between 
that monarch and the French republic, he was fortunate 
enough to regain his liberty. The other prisoners were now 
confined in Neiss, for the purpose of being delivered up to 
Austria ; and although the dungeon inhabited by them was 
still more damp and unhealthy than any of the others, yet 
they deemed themselves fortunate, for the three captives 
were permitted to enjoy the society of Madam Maissoneuve, 
who had courageously repaired thither to participate in the 
lot of her brother Latour Maubourg. 

Soon after this they were conducted to Olmutz ; and, on 
their arrival there, were so completely stripped of every thing 
that only their buckles and watches remained ; some books 
were also taken from them, in which the word liberty happen- 



12 

ed to be inserted, particularly " L'Esprit," by Helvetius, 
andPaine's" Common Sense." both belonging to Lafayette, 

It was declared to each, while shutting them up separate- 
ly in their cells, that henceforth they would never see any 
thing but the four walls of their dungeon ; that they might 
expect no manner of intelligence, either concerning persons 
or things ; that the mention of their very names, even by the 
jailors, or in the dispatches sent to court, was prohibited, 
and that in future they would only be designated by particu- 
lar numbers ; and that they could never receive any informa- 
tion concerning the fate of their families, or their own reci- 
procal existence ; and that, as men in this situation would be 
naturally inclined to destroy themselves, they must be inter- 
dicted the use of knife, fork, or any other instrument which 
might produce suicide ! ! 

After three different attestations on the part of physicians, 
pointing out the indispensible necessity of fresh air for La- 
fayette, he was permitted to walk on the fortress, and the 
indulgence afterwards was extended to a ride on certain 
days in an open carriage, with an officer by his side, a driv- 
er on the box, and two armed soldiers standing behind. It 
was this circumstance that afforded him an opportunity to es- 
cape on the 8th of November, 1794. The persons who as- 
sisted the Marquis in his escape were Doctor Bollman, a 
young German, who was employed by several Frenchmen 
and Americans, then in England, and Mr. Huger, of South 
Carolina, who was accidentally travelling through Germa- 
ny, and voluntarily engaged to accompany Doctor Bollman in 
the hazardous attempt. 

The Doctor had already effected a communication with 
Lafayette, through the military Surgeon who attended him, 
and who was a man of intelligence, probity, and feeling. 
Unsuspecting any plot, the Surgeon delivered a pamphlet, 
and afterwards a note to Lafayette, from Doctor Bollman- 
The note had been previously written over with sympathetic 
ink, a writing invisible unless brought out by the appli- 
cation of heat- Tbe few lines written with common ink con- 
cluded with the sentence "I am glad of tbe opportunity of 



J3 

addressing you these few words, which, when read with your 
usual warmth, will afford, to a heart like yours, some conso- 
lation." This means of conveying secret intelligence had 
been so often used during the French revolution, that it was 
thought the slight hint given would be sufficient, and so it 
proved ; the Marquis became acquainted with the true motive 
of the Doctor's journey, and with his readiness to run all 
hazards to serve him in any practicable way. At the same 
time it was stated, that the mode in which the Marquis could 
be served must be pointed out by himself, since too much care 
could not be used to guard against suspicion * and since he 
alone, from within, could judge what might be attempted, from 
without, with any chance of success; that, for the same rea- 
son, it became expedient for the Doctor, after having estab- 
lished this communication, to leave Olmutz ; that he should 
proceed to Vienna, but certainly return in a month or two, 
under some convenient pretext ; flattering himself that this 
interval would be improved in devising and maturing a mode 
of attaining the great object. 

Accordingly, he repaired to Vienna, and while there he 
procured a carriage to be built with convenient places con- 
trived for secreting various articles, such as rope ladders, 
cords, a number of tools for cutting bars of iron, and for si- 
milar purposes, of all of which he obtained a supply. These 
general preparations having been made, he visited several 
gentlemen on their estates in Moravia, and took an oppor- 
tunity of again touching at Olmutz ; where he just called on 
the Surgeon, who returned the pamphlet formerly left for the 
Marquis. On examining it he found that the margins had 

been written over with sympathetic ink — lime juice and on 

applying heat, he learnt that the Marquis, on account of his 
enfeebled state of health, after repeated applications, had ob- 
tained permission to take an airing, in a carriage, at stated 
days in the week, attended by a military guard ; and that, 
by far the easiest mode to restore him to liberty, would be to 
attack the guard on one of these excursions, and then take 
him off. 

Having read this, the Doctor contrived to fall in with the 



14 

Surgeon, to whom he mentioned, verbally, that he had just 
received important intelligence from England, which would 
oblige him shortly to return to London ; that he was imme- 
diately going to Vienna to arrange his affairs, but should be 
back in a few days, when he should take his final leave of 
him. This be had no doubt would be repeated to the Mar- 
quis, and be sufficient for his information. He did not, how- 
ever, leave Olmutz before ascertaining the manner the Mar- 
quis was guarded when taking his rides. No time was to be 
lost, yet how to proceed seemed difficult. The doctor was 
alone, without a confidant, without even a servant that could 
be depended on, and by no means abundantly supplied with 
money. Under such circumstances, success could only be 
expected from simplicity of design, and boldness of execu- 
tion; yet it became indispensable to have at least one coad- 
jutor who should be in the secret, and he chose for this pur- 
pose, the beforementioned Mr. Huger, with whom he became 
accidentally acquainted at Vienna. He found him possessed 
of a warm heart and resolute mind. Like others of his coun- 
trymen he entertained the highest regard for the Marquis, 
and lamented his fate. He had, besides, often mentioned in 
conversation that Lafayette, on arriving in America, first 
landed at his father's house, and there often used to have him 
on his knees when a boy. Under these circumstances it 
seemed that he might be safely trusted; nor was the confi- 
dence misplaced. They procured two saddle horses, and 
soon after repaired to Olmutz. Knowing the day when the 
Marquis was to take his ride, Mr. Huger feigned some busi- 
ness near the town gate, in order to watch the moment when 
the carriage should pass. As soon as he saw it, he flew to the 
Inn. Our adventurers mounted, and followed the carriage 
at some distance, armed only with a pair of pistols, and those 
not loaded with ball. The carriage proceeded between two 
and three miles, when it left the high road, and took a track 
traversing an open plain, lor in Moravia the fields are only 
separated by small ditches, instead of fences or hedges ; the 
plain was covered with laboring people. Presently the car- 
riage stopped ; Lafayette and the officer stept out, and walk- 



15 

ed arm in arm ; the carriage with the guard drove slowly on, 
but remained in sight. This was the moment, The two 
companions galloped up ; the doctor dismounting, left his 
horse with Huger ; at the same instant the Marquis laid hold 
of the officer's sword, but could only half draw it from the 
scabbard, as the officer, a stout man, had seized it also. The 
doctor joining, he was presently disarmed, but he then grasp- 
ed the Marquis, and held him with all his might, and set up 
a tremendous roaring, not unlike that of Mars in the II Had. 
The guard on hearing it, instead of coming up to his assist- 
ance, ran ; the people in the field stood aghast. A scuffle 
ensued. Huger passed the bridles of the two horses over one 
arm, and with the other hand thrust his handkerchief into the 
officer's mouth to stop the noise. The officer, the Marquis, 
and the doctor came to the ground ; the doctor kneeling on 
the officer, kept him down while the Marquis rose. All 
would have been well, but one of the horses, taking fright at 
the scene and noise, had reared, slipped his bridle, and ran 
off; a countryman caught him, and was holding him at a 
considerable distance. Whether he could be had again was 
doubtful. The doctor still holding down the officer, handed 
a purse to the Marquis and requested him to mount the horse 
left and proceed to Hoff, where he would promptly join him, 
if possible, if not, to make the best of his way to the frontier. 
The Marquis was out of sight in a moment. The officer re- 
covered from his panic, and fled towards Olmutz ; the doctor 
and Mr. Huger went to the horse which had escaped, and ob- 
tained him from the peasant for a piece of gold, but finding 
he would not carry double, Mr. Huger instantly said, " This 
will not do ; the Marquis wants you, push on ; I'll take my 
chance on foot, across the country." The doctor then gal- 
loped off after the Marquis, and soon reached Hoff, but did 
not find him there ; he, therefore, ordered the post boy to 
drive on ; but, little concerned for himself, and anxious to 
fall in with, or receive some intelligence from the Marquis, 
he kept travelling along the frontier, and was finally over- 
taken and arrested, towards evening on the second day after 
•his departure from Olmutz, Mr. Huger did not remain at 



16 

liberty so long ; within sight of the people in the fields, be-^ 
fore whom tbe whole transaction had taken place, when gen- 
erously telling the doctor to proceed, he was followed by 
them, seized, and conducted to Olmutz. The Marquis re- 
mained unpursued, but having mistaken the road, he follow- 
ed it till within a few miles of the frontier ; perceiving then 
that his horse became excessively tired, and was near giving 
over, he accosted a man whom he had overtaken on the road 
not far from a village, and under some pretext endeavored to 
prevail on him to procure him another horse, and to attend 
him to the frontier. The man apparently agreed, and went 
to the village for horses, but soon returned with a force to 
arrest the Marquis and conduct him before a magistrate, and 
finally to the fortress of Olmutz. 

After a formal trial, and an imprisonment of more than 
eight months, the Doctor and Mr. Huger were released, but 
their triumph was embittered by the continued captivity of 
the Marquis. In order to augment the horrors experienced 
by Lafayette, he was made to believe that the two gentlemen, 
who so nobly interested themselves in his favor, had perished 
on a scaffold. While thus tortured in his dungeon at Ol- 
mutz, and apprehending daily to be delivered up to the hands 
of the executioner, his unhappy wife, who was confined in a 
dungeon at Paris, also expected every hour to suffer the same 
disasterous fate which had attended the greater part of her 
family. The fall of Robespierre at length saved her life; but 
it was long afterwards before she regained her liberty, and 
the necessary strength to excute the design she had for some 
time meditated. Having found means to leave France, she 
landed at Altona, September 9th, 1795, and set out immedi- 
ately for Vienna, under the name of Moltier, with an Ameri- 
can passport, and arrived there with her two daughters be- 
fore her design had been divulged. The Prince de Rosen- 
berg, affected by her virtues, and her misfortunes, obtained 
an audience from the Emperor, and leave to participate in 
the captivity of a husband and a father, but absolutely refus- 
ed to nake any promise relative to the liberty of Lafayette. 
During two vears this interesting family continued im- 



17 

mured within the walls of the prison, treated with unneces* 
sary rigor — inhaling, in those chambers, or rather dungeons, 
an almost pestilential air. The health of Madame Lafayette 
was destroyed, and that of her daughters greatly injured. 
Maubourg, Pusey, and Lafayette, had already been imprison- 
ed during three years and five months, in the same gallery, 
without seeing, or being acquainted with the fate of, each 
other, and entertained no prospect whatever of their liberty, 
when the French Directory, by means of their ambassador, 
Barthelmi, interfered in their behalf. But this w T as, at first, 
attended with no beneficial effect : and it was not till the con* 
queror of Italy had sent Louis Romeuf, formerly one of La- 
fayette's Jlids-de-camp, to solicit this favor, that the court o£ 
Vienna would consent to their deliverance. 

The Austrian ministers endeavored, on this occasion, to 
>btain conditions from the prisoners, which they were deter- 
mined not to acede to ; and it was even required, by a noble- 
man employed for that purpose, that Lafayette should quit 
Europe immediately. In a spirited reply, transmitted by the 
latter, he bays : ** His majesty the Emperor and King wish- 
es to be assured, that, immediately after my deliverance, I 
will set out for America. This intention has been often 
manifested on my partj but as my consent at the present 
moment would seem to recognize the right of imposing this 
condition, I do not deem it proper to accede to it." He thus 
continues: " There are certain duties which I can never 
abandon. By these I am connected with the United States, 
and more especially with France ; and I cannot enter into an 
engagement with any one, in contravention to the claims 
which my country possesses, in respect to my person." This 
unexpected resistance greatly irritated the Austrian cabinet, 
and the doors of their dungeons were once more shut upon 
them, while Bonaparte was given to understand that they had 
been restored to their liberty. But, at length, having re- 
ceived intelligence of what had occurred, he sent Romeuf to 
Vienna, and they were finally liberated in the month of Sep- 
tember, 1797. 

Immediately after this event had taken place, they repair- 

C 



18 

ed to Hamburg, and Madame Lafayette having obtained 
leave to return to France, her husband was permitted by 
Bonaparte to repair thither also, soon after the revolution 
that occurred in November, 1799. Latour Maubourg, as 
well as his son and brother were recalled by Bonaparte in 
1800,* and their friendship for the family of Lafayette has 
been still further cemented by a marriage between young 
Maubourg and a daughter of the General. Alexander La- 
math, after baving obtained his liberty by the influence of 
his mother, went to England in 1796, and did not till 1800 
obtain a permanent residence in France. 

Lafayette was now offered the protection of Bonaparte ; 
but, unwilling to associate in his government, he declined 
it. Ever watchful of the the cause of liberty, he voted against 
the consulship for life, refused being made Senator, and dis- 
satisfied with the state of political affairs, retired to Ham- 
burg, where he lived privately till after the overthrow of the 
Directory. He then returned to France, and employed him- 
self on his estate, like another Cincinnatus, in agricultural 
improvements. 

On the approach of the allies, he offered himself as a can- 
didate, was elected a member of the House of Deputies, and 
chosen their Vice President. After the battle of Waterloo, 
at the time when Bonaparte was about to dissolve the Legis- 
lature and usurp dictatorship, Lafayette appeared at the tri- 
bune, and raising the old tri-colored flag of 1789, exclaimed ; 
" Liberty, Equality, and Public Order.' 9 He caused the sit- 
ting of the house to be declared permanent, and any one who 
should attempt to dissolve it, a traitor to his country, and to 
be brought to immediate judgment. 

He also caused a declaration to be passed, that the army 
and national guards, who had fought, and were still fighting 
for the defence of the territory and independence, deserved 
well of their country. He insisted on the abdication of Bon- 
aparte j was a member of the embassy ordered to demand of 
the allied powers a suspension of hostilities, which was re- 
fused them. He found, at his return, and, as it was said, 
to his great regret, the capitulation made, and the army re- 



19 

moved. After the final restoration of the Bourbons, he once 
more retired to his beloved retreat, La Grange, when he was 
elected a deputy from La Sarthe. The influence of this old 
champion of liberty was so much dreaded by the ministry, 
and others of their party, that every possible means was ta- 
ken by them to prevent the re-election of Lafayette, as depu- 
ty. He therefore has remained in the bosom of his family for 
a number of years, enjoying that philosophic ease so desirable 
to a mind of his elevated cast, the delightful contemplation 
of a life spent in the service of mankind, and the gratitude, 
friendship, and admiration, of Americans, in a degree only 
second to that which is felt for his immortal friend Wash- 
ington. 

Lafayette again appeared in Paris on the 22d February, 
1818, for the purpose of uniting with a company of Ameri- 
cans, in celebrating the birth-day of the American hero. 

On this occasion he offered a tribute of respect to the me- 
mory of the brave soldiers of America and France, who 
gloriously fell in the defence of their country, and in the 
cause of liberty and independence. 



20 



In relation to an intended visit of the Marquis de Lafayette te 
the United States. 



The Marquis de Lafayette having expressed his intention 
to revisit this country — 

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled. That the Pre- 
sident be requested to communicate to him the assurances of 
grateful and affectionate attachment still cherished for him 
by the Government and people of the United States. 

And be it further resolved, That, whenever the President 
shall be informed of the time when the Marquis may be rea- 
dy to embark, that a National Ship, with suitable accommo- 
dations, be employed to bring him to the United States. 

H. CLAY, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

DANIEL D. TOMPKINS. 

Vice President of the United States, and President of the Senate. 

Washington, Feb. 4, 1824. — Approved : 

JAMES MONROE. 



Resolution of the City Council of Boston, in 1824. 

[It will be recollected that the City Council of Boston, 
some time since, passed a resolution inviting General Lafay- 
ette to disembark in that city. The Mayor of Boston wrote 
to the General on the 20th of March, and by the ship Bayard 
an answer was received, which was communicated to the 
Council; whereupon, it was resolved, that "the President, 
with such as the Board of Aldermen may join, be a commit- 
tee to make suitable arrangements for the reception of Gene- 
ral Lafayette."] 



21 

Boston, 20th March, 1824. 

Sir : Your intention to visit the United States has been 
made known to its citizens, by the proceedings of their Na- 
tional Legislature. The city of Boston shares in the uni- 
versal pleasure, which the expectation of so interesting an 
event has diffused. But it has causes of satisfaction peculi- 
arly its own. Many of its inhabitants recollect, and all 
have heard, of your former residence in this metropolis; of 
the delight with which you were here greeted, on your second 
visit to this country, and of the acclamation of a grateful 
multitude which attended you when sailing from this harbor, 
on your last departure from the United States ; and also of 
that act of munificence by which, in latter times, you extend- 
ed the hand of relief in their distress. 

These circumstances have impressed upon the inhabitants 
of this city a vivid recollection of your person, and a pecu- 
liar interest in your character, endearing you to their re- 
membrance, by that sense of national obligation with which 
the citizens of the United States are universally penetrated. 

With feelings of this kind, the City Council of Boston, 
in accordance with the general wish of their constituents, 
have directed me to address this letter to you, and to express 
the hope that, should it comport with your convenience, you 
would do them the honor, on your ensuing visit to the United 
States, to disembark in this city, and to communicate the as- 
surance, that no event could possibly be more grateful to its 
inhabitants; that no where could you meet with a more cor- 
dial welcome ; that you could find, no where, hearts more 
capable of appreciating your early zeal and sacrifices in the 
cause of American freedom, or more ready to acknowledge 
and honor that characteristic uniformity of virtue, with 
which, through a long life, and in scenes of unexampled diffi- 
culty and danger, you have steadfastly maintained the cause 
of an enlightened civil liberty, in both hemispheres. 

Very respectfully, I am your obedient servant, 
JOSIAH QUINCY, 
Mayor of the City of Boston. 

Gen. Lafayette. 



22 

Paris, May, 26, 1824. 

Sir : Amidst the new and high marks of benevolence the 
People of the United States, and their Representatives, have 
lately designed to confer upon me. I am proud and happy to 
recognize those particular sentiments of the citizens of Bos- 
ton, which have blessed and delighted the first years of my 
public career, and the grateful sense of which has ever since 
been to me a most valued reward and support. I joyfully 
anticipate the day, not very remote, thank God, when I may 
revisit the glorious cradle of American, and. in future, I 
hope, of universal liberty. Your so honorable and gratify- 
ing invitation would have been directly complied with, in the 
case to which you are pleased to allude. But while I pro- 
foundly feel the honor intended by the offer of a national ship, 
I hope I shall incur no blame by the determination I have 
taken to embark, as soon as it is in niv po\%tr, on board a 
private vessel. Whatever port I first attain, I shall with the 
same eagerness hasten to Boston, and present its beloved, 
revered inhabitants, as I have the honor to offer it to the 
City Council, and to you, sir, with the homage of my affec- 
tionate gratitude and devoted respect. 

LAFAYETTE. 

Hon. Josiah QrixcY, 

Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts 



Resolutions of the City of New-Fork. 

In Common Council, June 21sf, 1824. 

Whereas the Senate and House of Representatives have 
lately requested the Preident of the United States to invite 
the Marquis Lafayette to visit this country, and to commu- 
nicate to him The assurances of a grateful and affectionate at- 
tachment still cherished towards him by the government and 
people : And, as a further demonstration of respect, Congress 
directed that a national ship be offered to the Marquis, for 
the purpose of conveying him to this country ; and it being 



23 

understood that the Marquis has accepted this invitation, and 
that this distinguished visitor may probably shortly arrive in 
this city — 

Influenced as this Board is by a respectful deference to 
the constituted authorities of the General Government, ani- 
mated by the highest esteem for the public and private vir- 
tues of the Marquis De Lafayette — It is therefore 

Resolved, That the Corporation of the City of New- York, 
acting in behalf of their fellow-citizens, will receive and 
treat the Marquis DE LAFAYETTE as a GUEST of the 
NATION. 

Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to pre- 
pare suitable apartments for his accommodation; and to fur- 
nish and supply them in a manner corresponding with the 
greatness and hospitality of our city, and the generous feel- 
ings of a free people. 

Resolved, That his Honor the Mayor be requested, on the 
first announcement of the arrival of the Marquis in this city, 
to convene the. Common Council in the City Hall, for the 
purpose of receiving him, and conducting him to the resi- 
dence which shall have been provided for him by this Board. 

Resolved, That his Honor the Mayor is hereby requested, 
immediately upon the arrival of the Marquis in this city, to 
communicate to him a copy of these proceedings, and to in- 
form him that a committee of the Common Council will wait 
upon him to conduct him to the City Hall. 



Resolutions of the Select and Common Councils of the city of 
Philadelphia. 

The following resolutions were adopted by the Select and 
Common Councils of this city, providing for the reception of 
Lafayette, aud a copy of them has been forwarded to him 
by the Mayor, viz. 

Resolved, by the Select and Common Councils of Phila- 
delphia, That they cordially unite in the sentiments of re- 
spect and attachment which actuated the representatives of 



24 

the nation, when they invited to our shores thegreat and gal- 
lant Lafayette. 

Resolved, That it peculiarly becomes the city where that 
declaration was framed, which gave freedom to the new 
world, to receive, with affection and with honor, the brave 
man whose devotion to liberty, and whose gallantry as a sol- 
dier so greatly contributed to the acquisition of that blessing. 

Resolved, That the presence of General Lafayette in the 
city of Philadelphia, is ardently desired ; that the chief Ma- 
gistrate of the city be requested to communicate to him this 
fervent wish of our citizens, and invite him to become their 
guest. 

Resolved, That a committee of Councils of the city, be ap- 
pointed to prepare for his reception, and to welcome, and 
while he resides among us, to entertain, in a manner suiting 
a great nation and an illustrious man, this companion ot 
Washington, and friend of America. 



Resolutions of the City Council of Baltimore. 

"Whereas the early friend of American Liberty, the zeal- 
ous and incorruptible supporter of the rights of man in Eu- 
rope, the disciple of Washington, and last surviving Gene- 
ral Officer of the Revolution, the illustrious Lafayette, is 
about to revisit our shores, and witness for himself the bless- 
ed effects that have followed the establishment of a sovereign 
and independent Government, based on the eternal principle 
that " all men are created free and equal, and endowed by 
their Creator witli certain natural and unalienable rights, 
among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" 
in the "management of their own affairs in their own way." 

And whereas it is the undoubted desire of all the good 
people of the city of Baltimore, that General Lafayette should 
be received, on his arrival, as a benefactor of the human race, 
and as a father of the Republic which he so eminently contri- 
buted to build up and sustain, at a time indeed when " men's 
souls were tried" — 



25 

Be it resolved, by the Mayor and City Council of Balti- 
more, that five members of the First Branch, and three mem- 
bers of the Second Branch of the City Council be appointed 
a standing committee, to advise and assist and co-operate 
with the Mayor and the Presidents of the First and Second 
Branches of the Council, in devising and directing such ar- 
rangements as to them shall appear best fitted to demonstrate 
to the venerable Chief, the homage of the hearts of the peo- 
ple of Baltimore ; regard being had, in all things, to his ease 
and comfort, during the stay that it may please him to make 
with us. 

Jlnd be it further resolved, That, if the military or other 
bodies of our citizens shall determine to pay him the honors 
which are due to his disinterested and glorious services in 
the cause of liberty in " two worlds," (as it is understood 
they will,) that the committees or managers thereof be re- 
quested to communicate and confer with the committee of the 
Corporation hereby appointed, to produce and secure order 
and harmony in whatever measures may be taken to show our 
gratitude and respect for the illustrious individual referred to. 

And to carry the preceding resolutions into effect ; 

Be it resolved, That the said committee shall be and they 
are hereby authorized, with the approbation of the Mayor, 
to draw upon the Register of the city for such sum or sums 
of money as shall by them be deemed necessary for the pur- 
poses stated. 



Resolutions of the Citizens of Richmond, Virginia. 

At a meeting of the citizens of Richmond, at the Capitol, 
on Friday, the 16th July, 1824, the Mayor was appointed 
Chairman, and John Brockenbrough Secretary. The May- 
or having communicated to the meeting the intelligence that 
the Marquis de Lafayette, late Major General of tiie armies 
of the United States, is almut to embark for this country, 
and may he expected soon to arrive, the following resolutions 
•were unanimously adopted : 
D 



26 

Resolved, That the citizens of Richmond, in common with 
all the American people, are deeply impressed with the ex- 
alted worth of this distinguished individual, and cherish a 
grateful recollection of his disinterested and pre-eminent ser- 
vices during that war which terminated in the Independence 
of these States. 

Resolved, therefore, That the inhabitants of this city in- 
dulge the hope, that he may be induced to visit this Common- 
wealth — the theatre of his toils and of his glory 5 and to re- 
side for some time in its Metropolis. 

Resolved, That the Mayor, Recorder, and Senior Alder- 
man be requested to make such arrangements for his recep- 
tion and accommodation, as may best comport with his con- 
venience, and testify our veneration for his character, our 
sense of his services, and our affection for his person. 

Resolved, That the Common Council be requested to make 
the necessary appropriation to give effect to the previous re- 
solution. 

JOHN ADAMS, Chairman. 
John Brockenurotjgh, Secretary. 



Extract from an American Paper of July, 1824. 

Lafayette is now about 68 years of age; with a fresh and 
vigorous constitution for one of his years — though it was se- 
verely tried in the dungeons of Olmutz. He lost all his hair 
during his severe confinement, and now wears a wig. His 
wife and daughters insisted on being the companions of his 
imprisonment. The constitution of his amiable wife sunk 
under the trial — those of his daughters were much injured. 
These two ladies are married — and in remembrance of " the 
theatre of his toils and of his glory," bear the names of Vir- 
ginia and Carolina. One of his sons bears the honorable 
name of George Washington. 

General Lafayette's is a true patriarchal family. His 
two daughters and his two Sons, and their respective fami- 
lies, live with this illustrious man at his Castle of La Grange. 



27 

A gentleman who spent a week at his house, a tew year* 
since, says, they had thirteen children — corresponding in 
number to that of the old United States, and most of them 
marked in their names with something American. Lafayette 
is their head — their protector — the being of all others on 
earth endeared to them by a thousand ties. He has only 
been once married. At the age of nineteen he left the arms 
of his wife and the sweets of home, to fight for a people to 
whom he was not known, and who had no claims upon him : 
but he felt for their wrongs, and was determined, in opposi- 
sition to the wishes of his friends, to battle for liberty in the 
new world — notwithstanding the strongest affection bound 
him to his wife. She shared the dungeon with him, sacrifi- 
ced her life, in fact, for her affectionate husband — and to this 
day, he makes it a sacred and invariable rule to abandon the 
pleasures of society on the anniversary week of his wife's 
dissolution. "You must not go this week to ^La Grange, 
(said the American consul to his friend) it is the week devot- 
ed to the memory of his lamented wife." 

Whenever he takes a walk into the fields, he generally 
takes some of his grand children with him. He amuses him- 
self with their prattling, joins in their little sports, and con- 
tributes to their happiness. Such is the man whose name fills 
the whole of Europe with his fame — the man who has contri- 
buted to establish the liberties of the new world. Such is the 
man who is at this moment an object of the greatest curiosity 
and admiration to the American people, and whose arrival 
on our shores will be a sort of national Jubilee. 

Lafayette is particularly remarkable for the unaffected 
simplicity of his manners. He was distinguished for his 
want of pride, his distaste for great parade, when he was 
among us — he preserves the same noble trait in his charact- 
er. As one striking evidence of it, indeed, he declined the 
honor awarded to no other man — of embarking on board a 
ship of the line, specially to be despatched for him, by the 
unanimous voice of both Houses of Congress — and he means 
to come to us in a packet or private vessel. 

Lafayette is as much distinguished for his amiable and af- 



m 

fectionate temper, as for his respeet to the liberties of man, 
His heart melts with generous emotions, as well as that of 
the humblest and most undistinguished of men. The Ameri- 
cans are particularly dear to him. He is always accessible 
to them — his eyes kindle whenever he talks of America. 
" Why cannot you come to live among us — to lay your bones 
among a people who owes you so much — and whose latest 
descendants will venerate your ashes?" Lafayette pointed 
to his grand children around him — he made no other reply. 
They were among the strong ties which bound him to France. 
He could not make up his mind to break them. 

v You are now in America," said he to an intelligent 
Virgi'iian, from whom we had the anecdote. " America?" 
" Yes ; this room is what I call America." His guest looked 
around him, and beheld scattered every where the tokens of 
his country — maps of the different states — the portraits of our 
distinguished men, of Washington, Franklin, Henry, &c. — 
American books — the electrical machine, with which the great 
Franklin had made so many experiments, and which he had 
given, as a mark of his respect, to this noble Frenchman. 



From the Marquis Lafayette. 

La Grange, October 26, 1823. - 
Dear Sir : No present could be more acceptable to me, 
no pleasure in reading could be greater than that for which 
I am under obligations to you. Accept my best thanks in 
general for the book, which retraces glorious perils and pa- 
triotic names in the late American war ; and also for the jus- 
tice you have done, to the warm interest of an old American 
citizen and soldier, in those honorable transactions. Most 
deeply and affectionately indeed, I have felt for the sons of 
my companions in arms, and for the country of which it is 
my proud, happy lot to be an adopted son. Be pleased to 
present your respected father with assurances of my brother- 
ly attachment, sensible as I am of the mutual gratification we 
should both find in remembering together our revolutionary 
campaigns. 



29 

A visit to the United States, which I may be allowed to take, 
once more going home, would be to me a source of inex- 
pressible delight. It is true, most of the friends of my 
youth, the partners in common feelings and exertions, with 
our paternal chief, are no more. But several are still living, 
and I have been blessed with the most flattering testimonies 
that ensuing generations have not forgotten me. How hap- 
py should I be in the sight of that eminent freedom, pros- 
perity, domestic comfort, and all the advantages of 
civilization and extensive felicity, which, placing the U 
ed States above ancient and modern societies, seem to stand 
as a compensation for the disappointments we have had to 
deplore in Europe. 

As the meeting of the house which goes by the name 
Representative is not yet fixed, and I will not wait for it to 
spend days in town. 

With very high and grateful regard, 

I have the honor to be yours, 

LAFAYETTE, 

Mr. John Brannan, Washington. 



From the President of the United States, 

The President of the United States has directed that 
CJencral Lafayette, when he arrives in this country, shall 
be received at all military posts with the honors due to the 
highest military rauk in our service. 



Arrival of General Lafayette. 

Nkw-York, August 16, 1824. 

We have great pleasure in announcing the safe arrival 

at this port of General Lafayette accompanied by his sou 

Gkokgb Washington Lafayette, 3Mr. Augusie Le 

Visseuk, a companion, and one servant. They arrived here 



30 

yesterday morning in (he ship Cadmus, Captain Allyn, after 
a pleasant passage of 31 clays from Havre. The fact of his 
arrival was made known by the Telegraph at an early hour, 
and it spread through the city with electrical rapidity.— 
Broadway was soon thronged, and the Battery crowded with 
people, who sallied forth with the expectation that the Hero 
and veteran of two revolutions, might come directly to the 
city. The arrangements of our city authorities, however, 
for his reception, having been seasonably communicated to 
him. he landed at Staten Island, and was conducted to the 
seat of the Vice President, where he remained through the 
day and passed the night. Fort Lafayette fired a salute as 
the ship passed, and a handsome salute was fired as the Gen- 
eral landed, from the ship Importer, from Canton. 

In the City the national flag was immediately hoisted 
and displayed at all the public places during the day. 

At 11 o'clock, a steam boat proceeded to Staten Island, 
with General Morton, and several members of the Common 
Council, to greet his arrival, and communicate informally, 
the arrangements that have been made. The General re- 
ceived company during the greater part of the day. Col. 
Piatt, who was in his suit during the Revolution, officiated 
to receive and introduce visitors, but in many instances, the 
General unrestrained by the ordinary rules of etiquette, 
was as anxious as his visitors were to crowd forward and 
embrace each other. 

This day will present one of the most brilliant displays 
ever witnessed in New York. The Military will parade at 
an early hour, and be in readiness at the Battery to receive 
the General, who will be waited upon at Staten Island, and 
accompanied up to the city by a committee of the Corpo- 
ration. For the accommodation of the committee, the 
Chancellor Livingston, steam boat has been volunteered by 
the North River Company, and will be accompanied by four 
other steam boats all richly decorated.. It is expected the 
General will land at the Battery between \% and 1 o'clock, 
whence he will be escoried to the City Hall, where he will 
be formally received by the Mayor and Common Coancil, 



31 

receive the marching salute of the troops in front of the 
Hall ; after which he will be conducted to the apartments 
prepared for his reception at the City Hotel. 

We feel proud of the reception which this early and de- 
voted friend of American Liberty, and steadfast cha 
of the rights of man, will receive in our country, foi 
it will enkindle a patriotic ardor, and awaken many 
otic reflections among our countrymen, it will have : 
effect abroad, and teach the enemies of freedom th 
Republic at least is to be exempted from the sweepi 
claration that all are ungrateful.—" Welcome Lafai 



Impromptu, On the Landing of Lafayette. 

Hark ! Heard you that peal ? "Tis from off the wide 
Earth groans at the sudden wide spreading commotio 
Like tumults of gods, when they battled on high 
'Tis the voice of a nation — 
'Tis a great salutation 
To an Hero advancing of mighty renown ; 
He dar'd the broad wave- 
He fought with the brave — 
The Tjrant he blasted, and shatter'd his crown! 

Behold o'er the deep majestic is waving 
The banner resplendant with many a star ; 

How proudly the bark the green billow is laving, 
Which bore Lafayette from regions afar ! 

Welcome great Chief to the land you befriended ; 

When oppression stood frowning on liberty's cause, 
You fought with our sires, our mothers defended, 

Receive (a poor tribute) a nation's applause. 

The plaudits of freemen, the cannons loud roaring, 
Make welcome the Hero all potent in fight ; 

Behold! high in air our fcagle is soaring, 
And views the great scene with pride and delight. 



32 



Remnant of the patriot band, 

Welcome 'mongst the brave and free ! 
Champion of a stranger land, 

All hail! Fayette and Liberty! 
Freemen's blood has ceas'd to flow — 

The glorious prize at length is von — 
Our stars with heavenly radiance glow,— 

Hail ! compeer of Washington ! 

For thy deeds done in arms, 

'Midst war's dread alarms, 
Be with Washington honor'd in story ; 

When death shall appear, 

His shade shall be near 
And bear thee in triumph to glory ! 



Agreeably to the arrangements entered into by the cor- 
poration* he was on Monday introduced to the city, in a 
inner that we presume must have been gratifying to his 
telings, and in the following order: — 

The Committee of Arrangements of the Corporation, 
icers of the U. S. Army and Navy, officers of the militia 
lding the rank of Major and Brigadier Generals, the 
President of the Chamber of Commerce, and a Committee 
from the Society of the Cincinnati, at 11 o'clock, A M. 
proceeded to Staten Island, for the purpose of accompany- 
ing the Marquis to the City. The steam boat Chancellor 
Livingston was employed for the purpose of conveying him 
from Statenr Island to the Battery, and was accompanied by 
the Cadmus, highly dressed and decorated with colors, and 
towed by steam boats, and the steam ship Robert Fulton, 
the steam boats Connecticut, Oliver Ellsworth, Bellonaand 
Nautilus, all richly and elegantly dressed in colors and 
crowded with passengers desirous of witnessing the ceremo- 
ny. The ceremonies at (he Island having been finished, thr 
Marquis was received on hoard, and the gay and impress' 8 
procession returned to the city. lie was landed at the Bat- 



33 

iery a little before two o'clock, having been saluted as he 
passed up the bay by a discharge from the ship Importer 
and Governor's Island, and was received amidst the shouts 
of an immense concourse of people who had assemble' <« 
meet and to welcome this distinguished friend and beiu 
tor of the United States, upon his arrival in our count 

From the Battery lie proceeded in an open carriagt 
Broadway to the City Hall, escorted by the military, in 
the command of Major General Morton, where he was 
ceived by the Common Council, and an address was m 
by the Mayor, welcoming him with much cordiality 
feeling upon his arrival in the United States; to which 
Marquis made an appropriate and feeling answer. 

After the adjournment of the Common Council, t 
Marquis received the marching salute in front of the C 
Hall, and again entered the Hall, accompanied by his s 
and suite, and in the Governor's room received the Socie 
of the Cincinnati, composed of his surviving brothers ai 
companions in the field, a small number of whom still r 
main to meet and congratulate their long absent, but high 
respected friend and fellow-soldier. Here also he was m< 
by the officers of the army and navy, and many citizens an 
strangers. From the Hall he was accompanied by the Com 
mon Council, and many distinguished persons, to the Cit; 
Hotel to dine, escorted by the military. 

The whole exhibition, from the landing at the battery, 
to the time of the dispersion of the people at the Park, was 
in a high degree interesting and gratifying. The numbers 
collected were perhaps unequalled on any former festive oc- 
casion. The bells of the different churches rang a merry 
peel. The houses through Broadway were filled with spec- 
tators of the first respectability, and the street was crowd- 
ed with people, — Every expression of good feeling was man- 
ifested from the windows, doors, and side walks; the stran- 
ger was welcomed with unfeigned cordiality; and we think 
it .Must have afforded to the Marquis an unusual degree of 
delist to find that his services were remembered and ac- 
knowledged, and his name cherished by a free and grateful 
people. E 



34 

The day was singularly fine for the oeeasion— the wa- 
fer scene exceeded in splendor and effect any thing of the 
kind that has ever been exhibited here. The appearance 
of the military was highly creditable in equipments, move- 
ments and discipline, and we have not a doubt their appear- 
ance, when contrasted by his recollection with the suffering 
troops of the war of Independence, must have made a deep 
impression upon (he Marquis's mind. 

The following appropriate lines, written by a friend 
while viewing the procession upon the water, have been 
handed to us, and we take the liberty to insert them for the 
gratification of our readers. 

Hail to the hero! who comes to revisit 

The land where he peril'd life, fortune, and fame ; 

Hail to the hero ! his age shall inherit 

The honors ! in youth has won for his name. 

Hail to the hero ! — shout millions of voices, 
Enjoying the freedom secured by his toil ; 
Hail to the hero ! a nation rejoices 
To welcome its guest, return'd to its soil. 

In the evening all the public places were brilliantly il- 
luminated, rockets were thrown up, and the streets were 
thronged to a late hour. Castle Garden, particularly where 
General Lafayette landed, and where he remained for some 
time, on his first reaching this city, was brilliantly illumi- 
nated last evening, and crowded with beauty and fashion. 

Nearly all business was suspended yesterday, and the 
stores of every description were closed at an early hour iu 
the forenoon. Indeed scarcely a person could be seen in 
any of the streets except those through which General La 
Fayette was to pass. 

The portrait Room in the City-Hall is appropriated to 
the use of the General, where, during his stay, he will, be- 
tween the hours of 12 and 2 o'clock, receive the visits of 
such citizens as are desirous of pacing their respects to him. 



35 

The following is the Address of the Mayor of the City of 
New-York, to General Lafayette, ivith his answer. 

Genbual — Tn the name of the municipal authority of 
the city, I bid you a sincere welcome to the shores of a 
country of whose freedom and happiness you will ever he 
considered one of the most honored and beloved fou 

Your only contemporaries in arms, of whom inde- 
few remain, have not forgot and their posterity will 
forget, the young and Gallant Frenchman who conset 
his youth, his talents, his fortune and his exertions to ' 
cause— who exposed his life— who shed his blood, thai ; 
might become free and happy. They will recollect with 
profound emotions, so long as they remain worthy o 
liberties they enjoy, and of I he exertions you made to o 
them, that you came to them in the darkest period of i 
struggle— that you linked your fortune with theirs wh> n it 
seemed almost hopeless — that you shared in the dan£ 
privations aud sufferings of that bitter struggle, nor qui 
them for a moment till it was consummated onthejrlori 
field of Yorktown. Haifa century has elapsed since that 
great event, and in that time your name has become as d 
to the friends, as inseparably eonnected wi(h the cause 
Freedom in the Old as the New World. 

The people of the United States look up to you as , 
one of their most honored parents ; the country cherishes 
you as one of the most beloved of sons. I hope and trust 
Sir, that not only (he present, but the future conduct of my 
countrymen, to the latest period of lime, will, among other 
slanders, refute the unjust imputation that republics are 
always ungrateful to their benefactors. 

In behalf of my fellow-citizens of JMew-York, and speak- 
ing the warm and universal sentiment of the whole people 
of the United States, I repeat their welcome to our common 
country. 

Permit me to add, that the moment of my life to which 
I shall look back with the greatest pleasure and pride, will 
be that in which it fell to my lot to be the organ for ex- 
pressing, however feebly, a nation's gratitude. 



3o 

Lafayette's Answer. 
Sin,— While T am so affectionately received by the citi- 
zens of New- York and their worthy representatives, I feel 
myself overwhelmed with inexpressible emotions. The 
sight of the American shore, after so long an absence — the 
recollection of the many respected friends and dear com- 
panions no more to be found in this land — the pleasure to 
recognise those who have survived — this immense concourse 
of a free republican population who so kindly welcomed me 
—the admirable appearance of the troops— the presence of 
a corpse o: the national navy — have excited sentiments to 
which no human language can be adequate. You have 
been pleased, sir, to allude to the happiest times, the un- 
alloyed enjoyments of my public life — it is the pride of my 
heart to have been one of the earliest adopted sons of Ame- 
rica- I am proud also to add, that upwards of forty years 
ago, I have been particularly honored with the freedom of 
this city. I beg you Mr. Mayor — i beg you Gentlemen, to 
except yourselves, and to transmit to the citizens of New* 
York, the homage of my profound and everlasting grati- 
tude and respect. 

■i > 

Departure of Lafayette. 
At an early hour this morning, the city again presented 
v scene of bustle and activity, preparatory to the departure 
of General Lafayette and suit. At 7 o'clock, the Horse 
Artillery, commanded by Colonel Areularius, paraded in 
Broadway, in front of Washington Hall ; and at 8 o'clock 
they took up their line of march to Harlaem, where they 
will supercede the escort which accompanied him to that 
place. This escort consisted of a squadron of cavalry ; the 
corporation in carriages ; the Fayette Guards ; the Ge- 
neral, Field and Staff Officers of the Artillery and Infantry 
of the city; and a number of citizens mounted. The Gen- 
eral breakfasted at half past 7, and repaired immediately 
afterwards to his lodgings at the City Hotel, whence the 
whole cavalcade moved up Broadway, to Bond street, and 
thence up Third Avenue. The streets were thronged with 
people, and the General, who rode uncovered, repeatedly 



returned their expressions of kindness and attachment, by 
bowing. Thus, for the present, have closed the attentions 
of our citizens to this excellent man. The arrangements 
of our civil and military officers were judicious am veil 
executed ; and we are told that the General had nc n\y 
been highly gratified, but greatly disappointed in the 
tion with which he was met, 

Lafayette on setting out for Boston, was escorted ofhe 
confines of the State by the citizens of New- York. On en- 
tering Connecticut he was received by volunteer companies 
and citizens with the same grateful respect an3 disti tion 
which actuated the citizens of New- York 5 continui ig his 
course through New-Haven and Providence, to Bosk 
was in all places hailed by all classes and ages with a f 
ship and gratitude bordering on enthusiasm. 

The General was escorted and hailed from place to 
through Connecticut and Rhode Island into Massacht; tts, 
till in the vicinity of Boston, where he was met by th 
authorities at the entrance of the town, and by the e 
tive of the State, at the Senate Chamber. The cere 
was conducted for the most part in conformity wit 
order of arrangements published in our paper of Satu ■■•lay, 
which it is unnecessary to repeat. A cavalcade of ; 
800 citizens in general mounted on handsome horses, pro- 
ceeded from the town about 9 o'clock, met the Genei.il at 
the residence of governor Eustice at Roxbury, and es ort- 
ed him, with the gentlemen who accompanied him t 
town line. The Mayor and Aldermen, and the members of 
the Committee of Arrangements and Common Council, pre- 
ceded by the City Marshal, went in sixteen carriages to the 
line to await the approach of the General. A military es- 
cort, consisting of a corps of light Dragoons, and a batta- 
lion of Light Infantry, (the Boston Light Infantry, Wins- 
low Blues, Fusileers, New-England Guards, Rangers and 
City Guards) who also prepared at the line to conduct him 
into town. 

On the arrival of General Lafayette at th* line, the 
Hon. Mayor, in the name of the City Government, address- 
ed him in the following terms : — 



08 



To General Lafayette, 

Sir. — The citizens of Boston welcome you on your re- 
turn to the United States; mindful of your early zeal in 
the cause of American Independence, grateful for your dis- 
tinguished share iu (he perils and glories of its achieve- 
ment. When, urged hy a generous sympathy, you first 
landed on these shores, you found a people engaged in an 
arduous and eventful struggle for iiherty, with apparently 
inadequate means, and amidst duhious omens. — After the 
lapse of nearly half a century, you find the same people, 
prosperous beyond all hope and all precedent ; their liberty 
secure ; sitting at its strength, without fear and without 
reproach. 

In your youth you joined the standard of three millions 
of people, raised in an unequal and uncertain conflict. In 
your advanced age you return and are met by ten millions 
of people, their descendants, whose hearts throng hither to 
greet your approach and to rejoice in it. This is not the 
movement of a turbulent populace excited by the fresh 
laurels of some recent conqueror. It is a grave, moral; 
intellectual impulse. 

A whole people, in the enjoyment of freedom, as per- 
fect as the condition of our nature permits, recur with gra- 
titude, increasing with the daily increasing sense of their 
blessings, to the memory of those, who. by their labors, and 
in their blood, laid the foundations of our liberties. 

Your name, Sir, the name of Lafayette, is associated 
with the most perilous, and most glorious periods of our re- 
volution ; with the imperishable name of Washington, and 
of that numerous host of heroes which adorn the proudest 
archieves of American history, and are engraved in indeli. 
ble traces on the hearts of the whole American people. 
Accept then, sir, in the sincere spirit in which it is offered, 
this simple tribute to your virtues. 

Again, sir, the citizens of Boston bid you welcome to the 
cradle of American Independence, and to scenes consecrated 
with the blood shed by the earliest martyrs in the cause. 



39 

General La Fayette's Answer. 

** To the Mayor and people of Boston — The emotions of love, 
and gratitude which I have been accustomed to feel on my entering 
this city, have ever mingled with a sense of religious reverence for 
the cradle of American, and let us hope it will be hereafter said, of 
universal liberty. 

" What must be, Sir, my feelings at the blessed moment, when, 
after so long an absence, I find myself again surrounded, by the 
good citizens of Boston, where I am so affectionately,. so honorably 
welcomed, not only by old friends, but by several successive genera- 
tions, — where I can witness the prosperity, the immense improve- 
ments that have been the just reward of a noble struggle, virtuous 
morals, and truly republican institutions. 

" I beg of you Mr. May$r, Gentlemen of the City Council, and 
all of you beloved citizens ofSJBoston, to accept the warm thanks of a 
heart which has for nearly half century been deyoted to your illus- 
trious city." 

The General gave the following Toast, at the public dinner yes 
terday : 

" The City of Boston, the cradle of Liberty,— May Fanueil 
Hall ever stand a monument to teach the world that resistance to 
aggression is a duty ; and will, under true republican institutions, 
become a Blessing." 

After the General's Reply the Mayor entered the carriage with 
him, which was a handsome Barouch, drawn by four white horses. 
and the procession moved towards town. This movement began at 
about 11 o'clock, and was announced by signal to the Sea Fenci- 
bles, stationed on South Boston Heights, who then fired a salute, 
and the bells of the town began to ring. The procession passed 
through the streets indicated in the order of arrangements already 
published, in the following order, viz: The Military escort, the City 
Governor, the General, followed by the Gentlemen who accom- 
panied him from France, and from New York — the public officers 
who had joined the procession, and the cavalcade of citizens — the 
whole being under the direction of a Marshal. The procession en- 
tered the common from Boylston street. From the point where 
they entered Park-street, the children of the public schools, of both 
sexes, neatly clad, and under the direction of their instructors, were 
arranged in two lines. Between these lines of children the pro- 
cession passed to Park-street. The military forming the escort 
on reaching Park-street were formed in line, and the General pass- 
ed them in review. Vast numbers of people filled the streets 



K 



40 

through which the procession passed, and the adjoinging houses, and 
■rti immense concourse of spectators was assembled on the com- 
ons, and in the State House Yard. The General was cheered 
om time to time as he reached the principal assemblage of peo- 
e, particularly the assembly on the common, when he approached 
e State House. 

The General was then conducted to the State House, where he 
is received, in the Senate Chamber on the part of the Supreme Ex- 
utive, by his Excellency the Governor and addressed in the fol- 
ving speech. 
Sir, our Friexd — In the namefjf the government, and in be- 
f of the citizens of Massachusetts,'! have the honor to greet vou 
h a cordial and affectionate welcome. 

A\ e thank God that he has hppn jsSjUpd to preserve you through 
scenes of peril and of sufiering which have distinguished your 
tiotic and eventful life, and that we are indulged with this occa- 
i of renew ing to you our grateful acknowledgments for the impor- 
; services which you have rendered to our common country. 
In the last surviving Major General of the American revolution- 
army, we recognize a benefactor and friend from a distant and 
\ut nation ; who inspired by a love of liberty, subjected himself 
is youth to the toils and hazzards of a military life, in support of 
rights. Under our illustrious Washington, you were instru- 
tal in establishing the liberties of our country, while your gal- 
yin the field secured to yourself an imperishable renown. 
With the enjoyment of the blessings of independence, we shall 
r cease to associate the name of La Fayette, and our prayer to 
en will be for his health and prosperity. 

Durin* the General's visit to Boston, he made excursions to 
many places around it ; among the most interesting was Qnincev. 
the seat of his venerable co-patriot, John Adams, a name identified 
with all that is praise-worthy in patriotism. The interview be- 
tween these veterans in the sacred cause of Freedom, was solemnly 
impressive. He visited Lexington, the Navy Yard at Charlestown. 
the heights of Bunker Hill. &c. after which he made a journey on 
through Salem, Newbury port, &c. to Concord, the capitoi of New- 
Hampshire. He then returned thruugh Boston and Hartford to 
New-York City where his birth-day. (the 6th of September.) was 
rated in a stile surpassing any similar thing winch ever took 
in America. From New-York he ascended the Hudson to 
v and its vicinity : from which he has returned to New-York. 
asd is expected shortly to commence his southern tour. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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